Peer harassment and disordered eating

Abstract

In this paper, we review existing literature regarding peer harassment and its association with a range of weight-related attitudes and behaviors. We conceptualize peer harassment to include traditionally defined bullying behavior, other social and relational forms of bullying, as well as teasing and other verbal harassment. Weight-based teasing is particularly relevant to weight-related issues and has been associated with clinical eating disorders, unhealthy weight control behaviors, and weight-related attitudes, such as body dissatisfaction. Studies using both clinical samples of eating disorder patients and general samples of college students or adolescents have demonstrated these relations. Emerging issues in this field, including teasing by family members, research with males, teasing and weight-related issues in developing countries, and the measurement of teasing experience are also discussed. Interventions with healthcare providers, parents, school personnel, and policy can contribute to the prevention of teasing and its associated weight-related attitudes and behaviors.

Weight comments by family and significant others in young adulthood

“…Previous research on weight-based teasing and comments has positioned these in the context of verbal harassment (Eisenberg & Neumark-Sztainer, 2008) or other damaging family experiences, including emotional abuse and neglect. For example, Taylor and colleagues (2006), found that higher levels of parental criticism about weight and shape were associated with higher reported emotional abuse and neglect (regardless of the body size), and they suggest that young people who perceive being emotionally abused might live in a family environment where they felt criticized for a variety of things, including weight and shape.…”

“…Weight-related teasing during adolescence has been viewed as a type of harassment (Eisenberg & Neumark-Sztainer, 2008) and has been consistently associated with poorer body image, poorer emotional health, and disordered eating behaviors, with moderate effect sizes; studies have been both cross-sectional and longitudinal, and have included both population-based and clinical samples of adolescents (Eisenberg, Neumark-Sztainer, Haines, & Wall, 2006; Eisenberg, Neumark-Sztainer, & Story, 2003; Fulkerson, Strauss, Neumark-Sztainer, Story, & Boutelle, 2007; Haines, Neumark-Sztainer, Eisenberg, & Hannan, 2006; Keery et al, 2005; Loth, Neumark-Sztainer, & Croll, 2009; Menzel Schaefer, Burke, Mayhew, Brannick & Thompson, 2010; Neumark-Sztainer, Falkner, et al, 2002; Taylor et al, 2006; Thompson et al, 1999). For example, our previous work has shown that boys who reported being teased about weight at least a few times a year were significantly more likely than other boys to initiate binge eating and other unhealthy weight control behaviors in the ensuing 5 years, and girls who were teased were significantly more likely to become chronic dieters (Haines et al, 2006).…”

Peer Victimization in Fifth Grade and Health in Tenth Grade

“…Bullying may be more likely among those with stigmatized characteristics related to health (eg, disabilities, obesity) and sexual orientation, and those with stigmatized characteristics may experience worse mental health effects from bullying. 6,9,11,15,16,[33][34][35] Given the potential for these characteristics to act as confounders in the relationship between bullying and mental health, we controlled for chronic illness status, BMI percentile, and sexual orientation. Parents reported whether the child had any of 5 health issues (eg, needs physical, occupational, or speech therapy), and if so, they were asked whether the issue was "because of any medical, behavioral or other health condition," and a "condition that has lasted or is expected to last for at least 12 months."…”

Setting policy priorities to address eating disorders and weight stigma: views from the field of eating disorders and the US general public

“…Experts working in eating disorders or related fields have called for multiple policy interventions and regulations, including efforts to achieve equitable treatment and insurance coverage for eating disorders [24], implement school-based screening for eating disorders [25,26], place government restrictions on access to over-the-counter drugs and supplements for weight control by youths [27], require policies to address eating disorders in college athletic programs [28], curtail weight-related mistreatment and bullying among youth in schools [19,21,23,29,30], and implement legal protections against weight discrimination [31,32]. Fostering political will to trigger government actions in these areas will require increased and strategic advocacy efforts to prioritize eating disorders on policy agendas [33].…”